Conferences and Meetings

The entire group (including alumnus Stefaan) traveled to Dublin for the 2018 World Congress of Biomechanics in July. Between us, we presented seven talks and one poster, as listed below. Aurélie and Kaushik also presented abstracts based on their PhD projects. Niamh was Co-Chair for the ‘Emerging Areas’ Track and a Session Chair for the “Biomechanics of Musculoskeletal Development” session. A particular highlight of the meeting was Stefaan giving a plenary lecture to mark the Perren Award.

Aurélie: Critical timings of fetal mobility for spine and rib development

Congratulations to Aurélie and Cristian who have received travel awards from the European Society of Biomechanics for the World Congress of Biomechanics in Dublin in July! Aurélie will present her work on ‘Critical timings of fetal mobility for spine and rib development’ and Cristian will present work entitled ‘Frequency and duration of mechanical stimulation influence mineralisation of developing chick limbs cultured in vitro’. Well done!

Niamh was the lead organiser of a meeting hosted by the Royal Society on the ‘Mechanics of Development’ at Chicheley Hall from 5-7 February. The topics covered included brain, bone, heart and gut development, and the speakers and participants were from a broad range of backgrounds including cell biology, developmental biology, physics and engineering. Aurelie presented a poster, and several other members of the group attended the meeting.

Devi, Niamh and Vivien attended the 14th International Conference on Limb Development and Regeneration in Edinburgh in July. Devi presented a talk entitled Identifying critical time points for early chick hip development, Vivien presented a poster entitled The effects of fetal immobility on shoulder joint shape over development, and Niamh gave an invited talk on Fetal movement matters: the importance of biomechanical influences in shaping the prenatal skeleton. Devi and Vivien made the most of their time in Scotland and danced the night away at the traditional ceili! Well done to both- pictured here at Vivien’s poster.

Stefaan and Niamh travelled to San Diego this month for the 2017 Orthopaedic Research Society (ORS) meeting. Stefaan was a finalist for a prestigious New Investigator Recognition Award for his paper on “Exploring the link between fetal movements and hip dysplasia in singleton and twin pregnancies”. Niamh presented a paper on “Short periods of fetal immobility lead to dramatic effects on spine and rib development”, and also showcased Vivien’s poster entitled “Quantifying the effects of fetal immobility on joint morphogenesis using 3D image registration techniques”.